What President Obama's Letter to Iran Should Really Say

By Marsha B. Cohen

Iranians and
Americans need to speak with one another, to share ideas, to work
together on issues about which we already agree in principle.

The Obama administration is
denying reports that a response to Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter of congratulations, or one to
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is being drafted by the State
Dept. When such a letter is finally written, this is what it ought
to say...

Dear President Ahmadinejad:

Thank
you for your kind note of congratulations of November 6. I am sure you
recognize that I was not free to respond to it in any substantive way until I
had actually assumed the office of President of the United States just over two
weeks ago.

It is indeed my hope that there will be genuine
change in the relations between Iran and the US. In contrast to the approaches
of my predecessors during the past three decades, I believe that talks or
negotiations will be most fruitful if they address the concerns of Iran's
leaders and the threats felt by the Iranian people, not just our own. You and I
both ought to begin by recognizing that some Iranian interests, as well as some
American objectives, will be far better served by communication and dialogue
than by confrontation.

First, the American people need to recognize and
share your concern about the future of Afghanistan. Iranians were threatened by
developments in Afghanistan long before Americans were. Nearly two and half
million Afghans fled the horrors and hardships of the 1979 Soviet occupation of
their country and the ensuing civil war by crossing into Iran and taking refuge
there. Over a decade ago, the Taliban murdered seven Iranian diplomats and
threatened to attack your cities. We are overdue in expressing our appreciation
of Iran's quiet but cooperative assistance during the early stages of the
Operation Enduring Freedom. Branding Iran as part of an "axis of evil" two
months later was unfair and unwise, as well as hurtful to the Iranian people.

We share your determination to put a stop to the
activities of Afghan drug smugglers who finance the acquisition of weapons by
the Taliban at the expense of the health and well being of eleven million
Iranians. Their activities both compound the drug problem that plagues Iran and
also expands the global spread of AIDS. You do not wish these scourges to
undermine your society and neither do we.

Iran and the U.S. share environmental concerns.
While we have emphasized -- and perhaps even overemphasized -- your country's
quest for nuclear technology, we have said nothing about Iran's efforts to
reduce the harm to the global commons that results from over-reliance on
hydrocarbon fuels. Our own Department of Energy website acknowledges that the
ancient Persians were the first to develop windmills, but we have said nothing
about the twenty first century wind technology that Iran has been developing,
utilizing and sharing with its neighbors. Your great, ancient and beautiful
city of Shiraz is in the process of being linked to your nation's electrical
grid by means of solar technology. You are undertaking new hydroelectric
projects to reduce your dependence on oil and gas, in an effort to reduce the
pollution in your cities. Iran's commitment to developing alternative energy
sources is both clear and commendable.

Instead of incessantly using the term "meddling"
to describe Iran's active involvement in regional affairs, we need to recognize
the hospitality of the Iranian people in opening their borders to refugees from
Afghanistan and Iraq for the past two decades. In the mid-1980s, when Iran was
engaged in a war with Iraq in which 300,000 Iranians would die, Iran took in
300,000 Iraqi refugees, two thirds of them Iraqi citizens who spoke no Farsi, at
a time when hundreds of thousands of Iranians were being uprooted and displaced.
Iran received no international assistance as it provided food and shelter to 2.3
million Afghan refugees. I say these things not as concessions, but simply to
acknowledge the facts.

For too long, we Americans have been the loudest
voice in the room, excoriating Iran for the things we disagree about, while we
have remained silent about Iran's efforts, achievements, or its contributions to
regional stability. Your interests and ours do not, and will not, always
coincide, nor will we always view the challenges facing the world from the same
perspective. Nonetheless, Iranians and Americans need to speak with one
another, to share ideas, to work together on issues about which we already agree
in principle, and to learn from one another on those with which we are in accord
in practice. We can then, with mutual respect, build upon the relationship we
have created to approach the more difficult issues -- those that have locked our
relationship into a confrontational dynamic for the past 30 years.